PSG, Club World Cup FAVORITES? | Botafogo advances in Group of Death | Atlético Madrid | Scoreline

If they were to do this, you're going, man, they are deservedly the world champions, and you're a little terrified of what these next few years will look like with them as dominant favorites.

So from Group B, it is PSG who qualifies group winners.

All three sides there, as you can see, with six points, so two wins.

And it's goal difference that tells the difference.

Plus five for PSG.

Botafogo qualifying as well with plus one.

Atletico Madrid with minus one.

Seattle Sounders, no points.

All three defeats for them.

They are eliminated from the competition.

Deflection like that takes plenty of skill.

PSG winning the group and they probably feel a bit relieved given the way it went against Botafogo.

I mean obviously they could have performed better and we knew that they would come out better in this one against the Sounders but to have won the group considering where they were a few days ago I think they'd be quite happy with that.

yeah look having watched that game against baltifogo it was very much a case of baltifogo got a goal to go in that was deflected they defended incredibly resolutely as they did for large stretches of their game against atletico as well and then psu just weren't able to find a way through it was one of those days where they just couldn't find it but ultimately their class has shown through they actually struggled for bits of the game against seattle in terms of actually getting into gear and creating the chances but

Really, this was out of their hands.

If Botafogo were able to hang on for that nil-nil, they would have been runners-up and gone into a different section of the draw as a result.

As it is right now, you see a PSG side having won this group that remain the favorites, certainly by the bookies, to go and win this competition.

And I think we will go back and look at this as kind of that result that Argentina dropped at the last World Cup, where in the end, they go on to win it.

But there was that blip in the group stage where Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia.

In this case, it was PSG losing to Botafogo.

I have not lost even a shred of confidence that PSG going forward are going to be the team to beat at this tournament.

As you said, they are the bookies' favourites.

How would it further what they've achieved this season if they were to go on and win this competition, do you think?

I think it would be incredible considering that you could very easily, and how many Champions League winners have not quite downed tools, but have a real genuine chance to go and celebrate the fact that they won the thing that they were chasing, to go again after playing an international break as well and just keep doing what you're doing and doing what you're doing over and over and over again.

For me, it solidifies them as this juggernaut going forward.

When we go into next season's Champions League and the Champions League after that and the Champions League after that going...

I don't know, this PSG side is going to be pretty tough to beat.

And you wonder how long Luis Enrique will stay and how long these players will stay and how long can... Because we don't see longevity like this.

We see a Real Madrid side that's continuously in Champions League finals, that's continuously competing at the business end of competitions, but...

It's in different eras with different players, and some players move on, but this feels like this is here to stay.

And if they were to go on and win another major trophy, become the world champions, normally the winner of the championship goes on to become world champions by winning what is now known as the Intercontinental Cup.

You beat the other continental champions, you're largely the best team in the competition.

This is a completely different thing, going to the United States, playing a potential of seven games to go and win a final.

If they were to do this, you're going, man, they are deservedly the world champions, and

And you're a little terrified of what these next few years will look like with them as dominant favorites.

Certainly right.

For Botafogo, it was job done.

I suppose in the second half, they're probably nervously looking at the scoreline in the other game, given the goals that needed to be scored there by Atletico Madrid.

But how do you think they will feel going into the knockout stages of this competition?

Obviously, it was a brilliant performance against PSG.

What was missing today that they didn't have in that game?

I think, look, ultimately, the goal of this game was to advance.

And in order to advance, they just needed to not lose by three goals.

And so I think they played certainly the second half that way.

I thought in the first half, they actually showed reasonably well, creative moments.

Jefferson Savarino could have easily opened the scoring for Botafogo.

So I think they have to be absolutely pleased with how this group went.

I thought it was actually a back-and-forth game.

They played with Seattle on the opening day of the group.

The result against PSG is an all-timer, one that every Botafogo fan will remember for the rest of their lives.

And now that we see them advance, I think...

This is the stuff of dreams because you go into the group and Seattle are playing three games at home.

Yes, they're the worst team in the group, but they have three home games.

You're playing against the European champions.

You're playing against one of the best teams in Spain.

And that lets you go and you were able to get the job done by beating the reigning European champions.

This is what teams from South America, teams that win the Libertadores, teams in Brazil that have high ambitions seek to achieve at a tournament like this.

So for them to have done it, absolutely incredible.

Do you think, and we were talking about the narrative, haven't we, in the last couple of days, at the start of this tournament, it certainly was the South American teams, particularly the Brazilian teams who've dominated it, and perhaps caught a lot of the big European sides a bit by surprise.

Has that element of surprise now gone and these other teams will know, OK, if we're facing one of these, we need to be at our best because they are no mugs at all?

Absolutely.

And I think you first start off with a baseline level of talent.

And then we talk about a lot the level of motivation.

This is the tournament that the South Americans and really the Western Hemisphere most gets up for.

When you talk about the MLS sides that are here, obviously for Seattle, they're the first side to win CONCACAF Champions Cup.

And they're there carrying the flag for the Western part of the world.

Normally, it is the Eastern Hemisphere that dominates.

It's Europe and obviously the major clubs there that dominate.

this competition that dominate world football.

And for Botafogo, it is their chance to go and show that they're of the level.

They can really have a go at some of these big teams, and they have shown it.

And Palmeiras has shown it, and Flamengo has shown it.

It has been incredibly impressive what we've seen, and I think there's just that level of, we're here to prove something.

For every individual player, there is a chance for a potential payday of going to Europe.

But even if you're not thinking about going to Europe,

You're thinking about representing your country and representing the football that is played in your country so that it gets respected on the level that it should be.

Because I think at times we are a little bit of the mind that only major football is played in Europe.

And that when you see teams like Botafogo perform like they do, that we should respect football from all over the world.

This was always going to be the danger with this group being kind of the group of death, that one of these big teams might win a couple of games and still get eliminated.

That obviously happened for Atletico Madrid.

How do you think they will feel about their Club World Cup campaign?

Brutally disappointed.

I mean, it ultimately comes down to how much they were hammered by Paris Saint-Germain.

I think the fact that they and also even in this game, you knew the mission going in was to beat Botafogo by three clear goals.

And I'm not saying that that's easy, but I'm not certain that we saw that level of desperation, even understanding it's hot at the Rose Bowl and the sun beats it down and maybe everyone's ready to go home now.

But man.

Atletico kind of never disappoint to have a chance to disappoint.

It just feels like if they, you know, that penalty shout, the first one for Alvarez was, what, 25 or so minutes, I think.

You know, get that, score that.

That's 1-0 up inside half an hour.

Gives you a bit more wind in your sails, doesn't it?

I understand.

I just think in the overall, when you look at, first off, they're the biggest spenders in La Liga in terms of transfer fees.

I appreciate that Barcelona and Real Madrid have massive wage bills, but they went out and spent a lot of money on Alexander Sorlotz and Julian Alvarez and Conor Gallagher, who I'm not certain has really quite hit the ground running in the way that they might have expected.

And Atletico, I think, should have a lot more expectations on their shoulders.

And they just didn't deliver.

They just didn't deliver.

They didn't deliver a big enough win against Botafogo.

They laid a complete egg against PSG in the first game.

Going back to the Champions League, obviously they lose in a penalty shootout to Real Madrid.

They're well off the pace in La Liga.

I appreciate that Real Madrid and Barcelona are the giants of Spanish football, and it's very difficult to topple them in what Atleti have done.

Even what they have done so far is incredibly impressive, but it does come a point after 15 years where you hold them to a standard of who they are now.

They're a

Top 10 side in Europe based off of the transfer spend, based off of the level of talent that they have.

And I just don't think when they get into these sorts of moments that they deliver like they should.

This should be a better performing team on stages like this.

Going out in a group, and I appreciate it's a difficult group, and Botafogo showed very well, but they let themselves down here, I think.

Frustration for Seattle Sounders.

They go home empty-handed, but did have at least a good experience and chance to test themselves.